HUENEMEIER: IMPORTANT TO KEEP MATCH SHARPNESS

31 October 2017

Paul Hazlewood Uwe Huenemeier under the lights at the London Stadium.

Kieran Cleeves

Brighton & Hove Albion defender Uwe Huenemeier believes there is no substitute for match action, and insists he’ll continue to train hard after last night’s contribution in the under-23s’ 1-0 victory over Southampton.

Huenemeier, Niki Maenpaa, Connor Goldson and Beram Kayal all featured for Simon Rusk’s team at the Staplewood Training ground, and the German believes these matches help keep Albion’s fringe players on their toes.

He said, “You can train as much as you want, but you can never get that match sharpness without actually playing matches.

“It’s important for these young lads, so when we come into the team, we want to do our best for them as well as ourselves.

“When you’re sitting on the bench, it’s usually 99 per cent that you won’t come on. You’re sitting there waiting, and then all of a sudden you get your chance and you have to be ready.

“We’re old enough and experienced enough to cope with these situations. I’m looking forward to the next week of training and whenever any of us are needed, we’ll be ready.”

Aaron Connolly’s second-half strike was the difference against Southampton, who were reduced to ten men early on, and Huenemeier showed his delight at keeping a clean sheet and completing 90 minutes.

“It’s always nice to get a game, especially when you haven't played for a while. It was a good test for us and we had to defend quite a lot at the end.

“The first half was easier for us, especially defensively, we kept the ball quite well and finally scored the goal in the second half.

“Connor [Goldson] made a great block at the end, and Niki [Maenpaa] made some good catches from corners to make it easier for us.

“In the end, we kept a clean sheet and won the game. It was a very good test for us and it was great to get 90 minutes under our belts.”

Huenemeier commented on the importance of maintaining a high standard of training throughout the week, and was pleased to see Albion manager Chris Hughton watching the under-23 game in Hampshire.

“It’s all about keeping the training level as high as possible, especially for the boys that play week-in week-out.

“The boys that aren't playing right now are trying to push them as hard as we can, because that makes them better and helps the team. We can all take profit from training well.

“It’s good to know that he [Chris Hughton] comes to watch these games. It gives us a good feeling because he shows that he cares about us.”